Dad-son relationship is key for QB Montez

BOULDER» Colorado spring football practice ended last week, and the Buffaloes have a short break after spring commencement and before player-led summer workouts. Quarterback Steven Montez will leave the Flatirons for the West Texas plains and return to where his football journey began.

“Just me and my dad in the backyard,” he said.

Alfred Montez was a college quarterback, and when Steven started high school in El Paso, he chose to follow in those footsteps. Middle-school coaches played Steven at left offensive tackle, but Alfred envisioned his son’s future at quarterback for Del Valle High. Steven seemed faster and stronger than most other kids growing up. They gravitated toward him.

“He likes to be the guy,” said Alfred Montez, himself a legendary prep athlete three decades ago at Granada in southeast Colorado. “You could tell from a young age.”

Fast forward about eight years from middle school and Steven earned that title for CU — plus the weight of expectations that come with it.

Montez enters a critical offseason of development with a new position coach (Kurt Roper), a new playcaller (Darrin Chiaverini) and the exodus of a seniorladen supporting cast from a five-win season a year ago. Montez’s opening act as a full-time starter included three 400-yard passing games in addition to a benching at Washington State. Yet Montez, a redshirt junior this fall, doesn’t lack for confidence.

“If it up was to us, I think our offense would score 50 points per game,” he said. “That’s what we’re working toward, and I think we definitely have the weapons to do that. … I’m starting to get a little bit older, and those guys are looking for someone to be a leader — and I’m going to step up and be that leader.”

When Montez arrives home in El Paso, he plans to work out with his younger brother, Raymond, now the starting quarterback at Del Valle, and their dad, just like in the old days. They often study film of NFL greats such as Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Alfred also breaks down Steven’s game film through the season, and father and son communicate regularly about his growth.

“Any question that I have, (my dad) already had and got it answered,” Steven Montez said. “It’s good just to have an extra person who knows the game of football and knows it to the level that we’re playing it at.”

Alfred, who played at Texas Tech and Western New Mexico, noticed an uptick in his son’s level of preparation while watching film together in Boulder over spring break.

“He goes in there and he grades every single pass, every single opportunity, he writes down the front he sees, the secondary he sees — all this stuff that he didn’t do earlier in his career that he’s doing now,” Alfred Montez said. “That’s part of the maturity that comes along with it.”

CU coach Mike MacIntyre began spring practice with hopes Montez would further develop his understanding of defensive coverages and rotations, and gain in knowledge of where the pressure is coming from and when to release the football to eliminate mistakes that result in sacks or turnovers. Through spring, it appears Montez has delivered that progress.

“Even if he made a mistake, he sees it now,” MacIntyre said. “He can talk about it and say it right after. To me, that’s a big step in the right direction.”

Alfred believes his son has much to prove as a quarterback. He also doesn’t doubt him. Their quarterback connection has allowed a deeper bond to grow.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” Steven Montez said.